Saturday, November 16
10:00 a.m. PT
Speaker: Frank Ames, independent art dealer, curator, scholar, and author
Virtual Event
Join the South Asian Arts Council online as textile expert Frank Ames shares insights on the history of Kashmir shawls. During the period that Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Punjab, took control of Kashmir in 1819, the patterns of Kashmir shawls underwent a significant transformation, shifting from traditional repeated floral designs to those featuring architectonic, geometric, and indigenous cultural motifs influenced by Punjab’s Sikh culture. Some historians attribute this radical change to French influence, as France was a leader in replicating these imported Indian shawls. This presentation, drawn from Ames’s forthcoming book, will explore the events that occurred in France during this time, demonstrating that the country was preoccupied with replicating the latest Indian fashion to meet an overwhelming domestic demand, rather than producing shawls for export to the Asia Pacific, which never happened. Rather than viewing this as a loss to India’s Punjabi Sikh culture, the Sikh-era Kashmir shawl should be recognized by historians as a pinnacle of artistic achievement in Indian art, reflecting the creative spirit of the Khalsa movement.
Speaker Bio: Frank Ames is a textile expert with over 45 years of experience as an independent dealer, curator, scholar, and writer specializing in antique textiles with a particular emphasis on Indian/European Kashmir shawls. As a Parisian resident for many years, he refined his expertise by organizing specialized auctions at Drouot. Ames is renowned for his two seminal books on the subject of shawls: The Kashmir Shawl and its Indo-French Influence (1997) and Woven Masterpieces of Sikh Heritage (2010), which have brought him often in close liaison with private collectors, museums, and institutions worldwide. He has authored articles for publications such as HALI, Textiles Asia, Orientations Magazine, and Sikh Formations, and curated the esteemed The Arts of Kashmir exhibition at the Asia Society in 2008. Based on the Upper West Side, New York—when not at his winter home in Goa, India, Ames is currently working on his third book, scheduled to be released this fall.
Please reserve your spot by clicking on this link. All participants will be sent the Zoom link and instructions via email once you secure your place.
Sponsored by the South Asian Arts Council.
Featured: Image courtesy of Frank Ames. © Frank Ames.
